


That Man

by kalkalash



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: A "you can like dudes?" discovering Bucky Barnes, A Strong OFC, An "IDK how to cope with my feelings" Tony Stark, An Oblivious Steve, Cute?, Fluff, Laura Barton Cameo, M/M, Mild Angst, Power Couple Therapists aka Brutasha, Songfic, That Man by Caro Emerald, funny?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-04-25 17:55:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14383947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalkalash/pseuds/kalkalash
Summary: ~I'm in a little bit of troubleAnd I'm in too deep~Emotions were whack, Tony decided, because how could he just randomly wake up one morning and realize that he liked James 'Bucky' Barnes?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> hello!  
> this is my first ever WinterIron so I hope you all enjoy!  
> i would definitely recommend that you give the song a listen because it's super fun. it's called That Man by Caro Emerald  
> ps: just make sure to read the lyrics as you go! it'll kinda tell you where the story is going :)

_I'm in a little bit of trouble_  
_And I'm in real deep_  
_From the beginning to the end_   
_He was no more than a friend to me_

_That Man,_ Caro Emerald

**8 MONTHS EARLIER**

It was days like these when Tony absolutely regretted hosting the Avengers in his wonderfully advanced tower because these badass superheroes always managed to break his stuff. It was the third time this week, and honestly, he was getting real tired of fixing kitchen appliances.

“Thor, we talked about this,” he sighed, as he looked over the incinerated remains of Bessie 3.0, a new toaster that he’d just installed a week ago.

“I’m sorry, Anthony,” Thor replied softly.

“Yeah, well the next time your breakfast isn’t cooking, don’t take suggestions from Clint. Anybody but Clint.” He heard maniacal laughter from above him and at this point was not even fazed about the fact that the archer was creeping around in his vents.

Oh my god, he had gotten _used to_ the presence of these misfits trashing his tower. Wasn't that a disturbing thought?

Bruce walked into the kitchen holding a toaster in his hands and Tony had almost sobbed in relief. He didn’t want to construct a toaster again; come on, that was way above his pay level.

“Please let me marry you.” Tony begged.

“As I have repeated multiple times Tony, I really don’t swing that way, regardless of how charming you can be.”

“Oh, gods, why are thee so cruel as to make the man I love heterosexual?” Tony said, lifting his fists toward the ceiling in question.

“Is that something that happens...normally?” A new voice asked, gruff and uncertain.

Tony quickly turned, his bathrobe flying behind him, arms still outstretched to the sky, while Thor summoned Mjolnir and Clint dropped from the vents with a stupid grin plastered to his face.

Standing there by the elevators was Captain America, with the fearsome Black Widow to his left, and a grungy, homeless looking dude to his right, presumably the one who had just spoken.

“Tony, put your hands down; Thor, Mjolnir is not necessary right now, and Clint, put away the Nerf gun.” Natasha spoke, and instantly they all followed the instructions because who the hell would want to cross the Black fucking Widow?

Steve sighed tiredly. “Yes, this is normally something that happens in this Tower.” he quietly said to the man on his right. “Everyone, meet—”

“Yes, yes, you found your brainwashed childhood friend, and you want him to stay in Tower. Fine, permission granted, now please, go give him a sponge bath, he’s stinking up my Tower.” Tony said, before going around to the coffee machine for a heavenly cup.

“That was easier than I thought.” Natasha said. Tony chuckled as he poured scoops of sugar into his coffee, ignoring Bruce’s wince.

“You're going to die from diabetes.” the doctor admonished him.  

“But at least I'll die after having a delicious cup of coffee.” Tony responded snarkily. “And if you ever thought for a second that I didn’t know what the Hell you two were off doing, well,” Tony turned around for dramatic effect, “you’re not a very good spy, are you?”  he finished, sipping from his coffee mug.

Natasha rolled her eyes but grinned. “How long?”

“Since Day 1. Now I'm serious, I can’t have this him looking like this. It ruins the aesthetic of hot superheroes I have here. Clean him up and bring him to the shop.”

“Why the shop?” Thor asked at Tony's retreating back.

“Well, that arm ain't going to fix itself is it?” he asked, before he walked out of the room.

“How did you even know that?” Steve asked.

“It's called body language, Capsicle.” Tony called back.

Steve looked back to see his best friend with a small grin on his face.

* * *

The grunge was un-grunged. That was when Tony’s problems began.

It was no surprise that Tony went for the cats _and_ the dogs, the coffee _and_ the tea, the cake _and_ the pie. (He probably wasn’t making sense at all. Euphemisms for bisexuality were _not_ his strong suit).

As soon as Steve walked into the workshop with his newly reformed best friend at his side, Tony may have gaped. For like two seconds. Don’t get too excited.

There was no denying that James Buchanan Barnes was an attractive man, with brown eyes that seemed to peer into his soul.

Oh no, what was he becoming?

“Capsicle, I see you have brought your new friend.” Tony said after a moment, hoping he did not seem flustered in any way.

“Your heart rate is elevated.” Barnes said, staring at him intently. “Why?”

Tony’s thoughts scrambled in search of an explanation.

“Well, I am standing in front my parents’ murderer. Forgive me if I'm not entirely comfortable yet.”

Steve’s face paled but Bucky nodded in confirmation as if that was the answer he expected.

“Tony.” Steve hissed.

“He's a big boy, Rogers.”

“You're going to trigger him.”

“He’s not a kid.”

“You need to go, Steve.” Bucky interrupted, and the other two looked at him in surprise.

“What?” they chorused.

“I need to do this on my own so you need to leave.” Steve opened like his mouth like he was about to respond, but Bucky narrowed his eyes even further, and Steve slowly backed away to the door of the workshop and up the stairs.

Barnes turned to him, not even a smirk present on his face. _Phew_ , Tony was saved. If Barnes kept having a lack of personality, this attraction would disappear in no time. He would be all set.

Tony patted the leather stool next to him. “Let’s go, Robo-cop. I don’t have all day.”

Barnes quickly sat on the stool and watched Tony with curious eyes, as he opened holograms.

“You already have the plans to my arms?”

“Yup, JARVIS scanned them the second the second you entered the Tower for security reasons. Now, as far as I can tell from these diagrams, it seems the arm is actually causing a lot of pain that you conveniently neglected to mention to me. What gives?”

“It’s none of your business,” he growled.

“What? Afraid I wouldn’t fix it?”

Bucky snorted. “Even if others in the Tower haven’t noticed, I have: you’re generous to a fault.” Tony tried to hide his surprise, but obviously he did not do well if the small, smug smirk on Bucky’s face was of any indication.

“Well then? What’s up, doc?” Bucky lowered his head as if he did not want to answer. Tony’s mind reminded him of something Steve had said long ago, after a long night when they both could not sleep and actually got along.

_The moon peered through the high windows of Stark Tower, illuminating the room better than his own arc-reactor electricity. Steve and Tony had just finished laughing at a story Tony had told; one that Rhodey would have killed him for repeating in front of Captain America himself._ _  
_

_“_ _That is why Rhodey and I are forever banned from the National Air and Space Museum,” Tony concluded, wiping a tear from his eyes._ _  
_

_Steve heaved out one last laugh and looked at Tony thoughtfully, as if remembering something from long ago._ _  
_

_“You know, you remind me of Bucky.” Tony couldn’t help but laugh. Him? Reminiscent of Cap’s loyal buddy? Preposterous._ _“Yeah, I know you won’t listen to me. But he had the same sense of life that you do. Same sense of guilt too.”_ _  
_

_“And how would you know that I feel any sense of guilt, Cap?” Steve’s eyes were twinkling as he responded._ _  
_

_“All this Tony,” Steve said, gesturing to the wide open space of the Tower, his own fortified shield, the upgraded uniform that he was loosely wearing, “where else could it have come from?”_

The memory quickly cleared away and Tony piercingly examined James Buchanan Barnes in front of him.  
“You haven’t told anyone out of some sick form of penance, am I right?” Tony said, as he grabbed a wrench and a screwdriver from a nearby bench.

Brow furrowed, Bucky said, “I would think that you would want me to suffer.”

Tony scoffed. “If I had wanted you to suffer, Sergeant Barnes, I wouldn’t hurt you. I’d hurt everyone you’d ever had even a smidgen of affection for.” Barnes chuckled.

“Seems like you’ve thought about it a lot.”

“Believe me, every night for the past 25 years, I've thought about it.” Tony pretended to fiddle with a hologram so as to not reveal anything.

“So what’s stopping you?”

“Steve Rogers’ puppy dog eyes.”

“Seriously. What’s stopping you?” Tony sighed and turned to face Barnes head on.

“You heard about the Battle of Manhattan when you were still a POW?” At Bucky’s nod, he kept going. “Clint, or Hawkeye, was mind-controlled by Loki for most of it. I don’t blame him for anything he did, how could I blame you?” Bucky didn’t say anything and Tony became nervous, and fell back on his favorite technique when awkward silences were present: rambling.

“Of course, it did take me some time to accept the fact. I mean, I had always blamed my dad which multiplied my daddy issues by ten. But then I watched the video and I saw your face, and you didn’t seem like you were even in control of your own body, so really, I can’t blame you for any of this, can I? It’d make me be stupid, and if you didn’t know, I’m supposed to be a genius and—”

“You talk too much.” Bucky said. It was a cutting sentence, and Tony immediately stopped, feeling self-conscious.

“Sorry, thoughts can get away from me sometimes.” Tony quickly busied himself with the holograms in front of him.

“That’s not—I didn't mean you should stop.” Barnes quietly said.

“You—what?”

Barnes looked extremely uncomfortable. “I like it when you talk. Keeps my thoughts away.”

“Ok… did Steve ever tell you about the first time that he and I met?”

“Kinda?”

“Just assume whatever he said was a complete lie. It was a warm summer night in Germany, and there was a supervillain in town…”


	2. Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for the love that you're showing for this fic! i needed after infinity war feels :( 
> 
> and just some quick housekeeping-- ill try to update as soon as i can; like once a week, but finals are here so...sorry if not?  
> also, since im writing one chapter per verse and plot needs to happen somewhere these chapters are gonna start getting weird in length--just a notice
> 
> hope you enjoy this chapter!

_The thought is makin' me hazy_  
_I think I better sit down_  
_'Cause like the sweetest serenade  
Bet he knows he's got it made with me_

It had to be because he had emerged from the workshop after 37 hours, most likely sleep deprived, definitely caffeine deprived, and just hanging on by a thread because of Dummy’s delightful motor-oil kale smoothies. It had to be. He was hallucinating this right?

Because as he somehow stumbled into the common room, seeing the Avengers crowded around the breakfast bar, his eyes caught on the shirtless, perfectly built Bucky Barnes, a little damp probably because of his morning jog, and suddenly his stomach swooped as if he was diving in the Iron Man suit.

He recognized that feeling. He knew that feeling.

It was the same feeling that he had once had for Pepper.

Oh, _shit._

“Yo Stark, you okay? You look a little sick.” Clint called out, and suddenly everyone’s attention was on him. Tony didn't really care about that, he had been in the spotlight most of his life and this was nothing new, but as Bucky’s eyes landed on him, filled with concern, Tony had an immense urge to kiss his worry away. What the absolute _fuck_?

“I’m fine,” he said, dazedly of course, because combined with the lack of sleep and the newly discovered emotions, he was feeling just a tad overwhelmed right now. “I need some sleep.”

Bruce frowned at him. “You have to eat first.”  

Tony resisted the urge to groan, because sitting here any longer meant looking at Barnes, and he still wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but Bruce did not look like he was going to take no for answer, and Steve had already fired up the stove and grabbed eggs.  Oh and look, the only seat that was available was next to Bucky. Fan- _freaking-_ tastic.

Tony slowly meandered his way to his seat, ignoring Natasha’s suspicious glare. He was convinced that if he gave her even a cursory glance, she would know everything running through his mind. So to be safe, he climbed on to his stool and promptly put his forehead on the countertop, effectively cutting off socialization. Or at least, he thought he did.

“My friend, why do you this to yourself?” Thor asked, and Bucky poked him in the side trying to get him to answer the question.

“I need at least 15 more hours in a day, Thor.” Tony said, voice muffled.

“SHIELD, SI, Avengers or Iron Man?” Bruce asked. Tony could sense Bucky tense next to him, and his hunch was quickly confirmed by his next question.

“What do you mean, SHIELD, SI, and Avengers?” Bucky asked.

“Well, he does develop tech for SHIELD, mostly regarding the helicarrier. He’s still the head of R&D for Stark Industries, and all the gadgets that we have are made by him.”

Someone rapped him on the back of his head with a rolled magazine.

“Ahh, what was that for?” Tony asked, forehead finally off the table, eyes searching for a suspect, and also trying to avoid Bucky’s stupidly handsome face. They landed on Natasha Romanoff, who was standing beside Bruce, filling Tony’s preferred mug with coffee. She turned to glare at him.

“I distinctly remember Coulson telling you to tell him whenever your workload was going overboard.”

“I’d been putting off updated Kevlar suits and new biometric weapons for weeks, so—”

Somehow, Nat’s stare became harder.  

“And next time, I will let Coulson know that I can’t do whatever he wants me to do.” Tony finished. Natasha nodded approvingly and placed the cup of coffee in front of him as a reward. Tony hurriedly grabbed it, enjoying the warmth of the beverage between his fingers before taking a quick gulp.

“You wouldn’t be able to successfully fight off Coulson's puppy-dog eyes,” Clint spoke through the cereal that he was chewing. “I think that the longest that I could withstand was… 3 minutes?”

“I don’t think anyone’s could be as bad as Stevie’s.” Bucky said.

“You wanna bet? Clint asked, eyes lighting up with a challenge.

“Guys, really?” Steve asked, exasperatedly, placing a plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast in front of Tony.

Tony looked up at Steve. “Is there anything they don’t gamble about?” he asked. Steve shrugged, resigned to his fate.

“20 bucks says that I can last longer than my record against Coulson.”

“Deal.” Bucky turned to Steve. “Lay it on him, Cap.”

Steve straightened up. “Split the cost if you win?”

“And the loss, punk.”

Steve pouted, but turned to Barton. “Will you finally join sparring with us?”

“Aww, Cap, you’ve just picked the one thing that you could never convince me on.” Barton replied. Tony could see the change of expression in a second. Steve’s face scrunched up for a moment before his blue eyes became wide, his mouth pressed into a disappointed line, and his shoulders seemed to sag lower than physically possible.

It took Barton 156 seconds to break. JARVIS counted.

“Ha!” Bucky laughed, as he realized that he had won. He went to grab his twenty from Clint but Tony’s eyes lingered on the bright grin on Bucky’s face.  

Someone bumped against his shoulder. “You know, it lasts longer if you take a picture.”

Tony snarled at Natasha and shoveled eggs into his mouth to save himself from responding.

Natasha, however, just gave him a wink. _Fuck,_ what did that mean?

“Come on, who wants to see Cap kick Clint’s butt in the ring?” A chorus of affirmatives followed her remark, and everyone started moving to the gym except Tony. Natasha placed her palm on Bucky’s chest stopping him from following the group.

“Sup, Nat?”

“You stay here. Make sure he eats and goes to bed.” Tony straightened at the table at looked at both of them with wide eyes. Him alone with Bucky right now, would be a really, _really_ bad idea.

Before Tony could even voice his objections, Bucky nodded willingly. “You’re right, someone needs a babysitter.”

Tony squawked indignantly. “I do not.”

Bucky jumped on the seat across from him, looking unimpressed. “Yes, you do. Now eat,” he said, pointing at an almost full plate. Tony reluctantly began to do so, sending one last baleful glare at Natasha's retreating back.

Chewing through a piece of bacon, Tony looked up to see Bucky staring intently at him. Was there grease on his cheek? Kale smoothie on his shirt? Or, even worse, both?

“You know, you don’t have to watch me. Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to function like a normal being.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “So working for 37 hours in a row is functioning like a normal human being?”

“For someone like me, yes. Why don't you do this with Bruce?” Tony asked, as he stabbed a strip of bacon.

“Because unlike you, Bruce knows his limits.” Bucky grabbed the saucepan on the stove that still held some scrambled eggs and unceremoniously dumped them on Tony’s plate. At Tony's glare, he spoke. “Eat up.”

Tony stuck his tongue out in protest but still picked at the eggs.

“Hey, how long do you spend on my new arm?” Bucky asked, as he squeezed ketchup on Tony’s plate.

Distracted by the food in front of him,  Tony answered. “Eh, on a good day maybe 13 hours, a bad day, somewhere close to 25.”

“What?!” _Aw, fuck._ He'd inadvertently unleashed mother hen Bucky Barnes on himself.

Tony never understood why people were more nervous about getting the Captain worried, when clearly Bucky was the absolute worst. It made sense when you thought about it. Bucky was probably the one taking care of Steve when Steve was younger and constantly afflicted with illnesses.

“Did I say 25 hours? I meant 2 to 5 hours once a month—”

Bucky crossed his arms and looked up to the ceiling. “JARVIS?”

“Sir’s estimation seems to be accurate to me, Sergeant Barnes.”

It was a mark of how annoyed he was that Bucky didn’t even stop to correct JARVIS on his name.

“13-25 hours? Are you crazy or something?”

“Well, I—”

“You can’t forego sleep for me—”

“But—”

“And there’s honestly no need for you to spend so much time—” At those words, Tony became irritated.

“No need?” He asked, standing up. It really didn’t help considering the fact that Bucky was still taller than him, but at least he didn’t feel as small. “That arm is the only thing that you have to protect you in the field. Cap has his shield, Widow, her bites, but all you have is that stupid arm. So if I mess up one nerve ending, one wire, and it causes you to get hurt in battle—well, I can’t let that happen, so forgive me for spending hours on it because I’m concerned,” Tony finished with a heavy breath.

Bucky was looking at him, shock clear on his face and that’s when Tony had realized that he had made a huge mistake. His entire tirade just screamed of the fact that he maybe cared a little too much about Bucky and now Bucky was probably about to call him out, and honestly, Tony really wasn’t ready for this shit so early in the morning—

“I’m sorry.”

He looked up to see Bucky looking almost...chastened? “Uh, no— it’s fine, I guess.” Tony replied, not even sure why Bucky was apologizing. But the man seemed satisfied so he didn't argue.

“You done eating?” Bucky asked, pointing to his plate.

“Yup.” Tony replied, eager to leave from the admittedly awkward situation. Bucky swiped the plate from underneath his arms and placed it in the sink before coming around Tony. He grabbed Tony by the arms and started to push him toward the stairs.

“What the hell?” Tony shrieked.

“You heard Natasha. I’m your babysitter. Gotta make sure you actually get down for bed.” Bucky said, still shoving him up the stairs.

“I know how to walk up stairs, dumbass!” Tony said, flailing around till escape Bucky’s vice like grip.

“Don’t make me tie you up!”

Well, wasn’t _that_ an idea. His lower anatomy seemed to think so.

Tony slapped Bucky’s arms off of him and fixed him with a glare. “You watch me get into my room, and that’s it.”

“Counteroffer. You let me stay until you fall asleep, or I post that video of you singing karaoke to Dummy on my widely followed Instagram account.” Tony gritted his teeth.

“Remind me to kill Sam for showing you social media,” he replied, as he walked into his bedroom.

“After the nap, dearie,” Bucky said, after he plopped in an armchair across from Tony’s bed. “Now, do you need help changing into your jammies?”

No, though Tony _really_ liked the idea of Bucky getting him out of his pajamas.

Ugh, why was his mind like this?

Tony quickly slipped off his shirt and slid under the covers.

“What, you don’t want a bedtime story?” Bucky said.

“Nah, sing me a lullaby.” Tony snarked back.

“A lullaby?”

“It’s either you or AC/DC buddy.”

Tony heard Bucky shift in the armchair and clear his throat.

_Was he really—?_

He had a soft growl of a voice, one that became stronger as he sung line after line of a haunting melody that Tony didn’t recognize.

His eyes slowly dragged down, and he felt a soft weight settle next to him, and the last sight Tony remembered was a bright grin.


	3. Experimentation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little longer than usual - hope you like it!

_Twisting round on a carousel_  
_This speeds' too much to stop_  
_One second I'm thinkin' I'm feeling the lust_  
_And then I feel a lot_

Tony woke up to the dark sky, sprinkled with stars and city lights. He pushed the covers off himself, blinking haphazardly, until his eyes settled on the armchair that Bucky had occupied before.

Oh. So there was that to deal with.

To be honest, Tony didn’t know the exact instant when he fell in love with Pepper, which was why he couldn’t say if he was actually in love with Bucky. He supposed it was because love was more of an accumulation of things.

It was kinda like making a sandwich. There had to be the foundation of physical attraction, or the bread. Those little things that you loved about them, the lettuce, tomatoes, the meat, the cheese. The flaws, like the pickles. And finally the one thing you couldn't live without, aka the dressing. Some people liked mayo, others, mustard, but it was the one thing that tied the entire sandwich together, that made you actually crave this simple thing.

Tony guessed he had been making this sandwich the whole time, and didn’t notice it was complete until the last slice of bread was placed on it this morning.

How didn't he  _fucking_ notice?

He could have thrown the sandwich out and been done with this shit. But now it was all wrapped up in wax paper and packed away in his lunchbox of a heart.

He really needed to stop with the sandwich metaphor. This was exactly why he wasn’t a writer.

“Sir, if you're up for it, Miss Romanov is requesting your presence at Movie Night.”

Natasha was calling him? He had no fucking choice.

“I’ll be there in a moment.”

Great, so there was no way he could possibly run away from the situation. In certain way, Tony supposed that it was a good thing. Maybe these emotions were a complete fluke. Honestly, who wouldn’t swoon at a slightly damp Bucky Barnes? Was the world blind?

Maybe if Tony saw Bucky now, his poor heart would not run faster than Cap on a treadmill on a bad day.

But if there wasn’t any mistake, he had to get on the next flight to somewhere. Wasn’t the SI in Tokyo overdue for a visit?

Tony eased on his slippers and jumped out of bed. He glared at the armchair before making his way to the bathroom for a quick refreshing shower and change of clothes.

Finally, with the scent of sandal steaming off his skin, Tony meandered his way to the common room to find the team passionately arguing.

“We should watch _The 40 Year Old Virgin_ ,” Sam adamantly said.

“Probationary Avengers don’t get a choice, Wilson,” Clint snapped back.

“Hey Tony,” Nat said, as she soon as she caught sight of him.

“Hey Red,” he said, as he took a seat beside her on the couch. She sniffed the air around him and let out a deeply contented sigh.

“Is that the bath set I bought you last Christmas?”

“Maybe.”

“I thought you said that you wouldn’t use it because ‘it was too feminine’.”

“I was wrong, ok? Now I realize that smelling like a goddess is literally the best thing ever.”

“Tony, don’t you think that we should watch the Lord of the Rings?” Clint asked, as everyone rolled their eyes.

“So we can listen to you recite Legolas’ lines accompanied by your terrible acting, proving to all of us that you have taken my nickname way too far? Then, yes, Clint, we should definitely watch Lord of the Rings.”

Natasha hummed thoughtfully. “I think we should watch a rom-com.” The room fell into silence. Even Bruce retracted his head out of his novel, and peered at Nat with a strange look.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to my wonderful girlfriend who was speaking, but did she accidentally just say the words ‘rom-com’?”

“It wasn't an accident, Dr. Banner. It's just that your girlfriend feels like it's the perfect time to let loose to the frivolities of a chick flick.” She said, with a significant look at Tony. _What was she planning?_

“Well, I've never watched a rom-com before so…” Steve trailed off.

“I have watched plenty with Jane and Darcy. They are quite exceptional.” Thor added. It seemed like the decision was made.

“Fine,” Bucky said. “Which one?”

“Let's watch _Love Actually_ ,” Nat said. “JARVIS?” The room’s lights dimmed and everyone grabbed a seat for themselves. Natasha settled against the cushions one more, her shoulder pushing into Tony’s. Miraculously, she produced a fluffy blanket and draped it over them as the opening sequence began.

“What are you planning little spider?” Tony whispered to her, his eyes still on the screen.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” she quietly replied, though Tony could clearly see a small smirk from his peripheral vision.

“I _definitely_ believe you.”  

“As you should.”

Tony was silent for a few moments, before turning to speak to Natasha.

“I can’t deal with the suspense. My brain is running an infinite number of scenarios. _Please_ tell me what your crafty spy mind is plotting in order to mess with my life.”

“I’m not messing with your life.” She said, eyes still at the screen. Tony lay back on the sofa cushions and pulled the blanket up higher.  

“That is highly questionable.”

“Ok, let me say this in simple terms. Fact One: you like Bucky. Fact Two: Bucky likes you. Conclusion: date. Get it?”

Tony opened his mouth to protest basically every single word that came out of Natasha’s mouth because come on! He wasn't sure that he even liked Bucky, and was _definitely_ sure that Bucky didn’t like him back so basically Natasha’s conclusion was exceptionally wrong--

“Ugh,” Natasha groaned, her head hitting the back of the sofa. _How could this woman read his fucking mind?_

Tony turned his neck toward her. “I may like him. Further testing is required.”

“You do realize that in the past fifteen minutes, he has looked over here at least six times.”

“What?” Before Tony could turn to check, Natasha slapped the back of his neck.

“Ow! What was that for?”

"Don't be so obvious."

“Hey, quiet from the peanut gallery,” Clint called out. Tony just stuck his tongue out at him.

“Well, you still think that proves nothing?” Nat asked.

“Yes,” he whispered mutinously.

“So Bruce letting me into his lab means that he is my soulmate, but Bucky literally staring at you proves nothing.”

“Exactly.”

Natasha let out a sigh that Tony could only describe as fond, exasperated and angry at the same time.

They both were quiet, watching the movie with not much particular interest, as the gears in both their minds were turning.

“Have you ever watched _Love Actually_ before?” Nat asked, out of the corner of her mouth.

Tony looked at her sideways with narrowed eyes, not following where she was going with this next line of questioning. He settled on an honest answer.

“Couple of times. Pepper claims it's a Christmas movie.”

“Have a favorite character?”

“Easy. The Prime Minister.”

Natasha softly chuckled. “Makes sense. You're exactly like him.”

“What?”

“Let’s think. When the Prime Minister finally realizes that he is in love with Natalie, the first thing that he does is to send her away to a different department. Since you had your mind boggling realization today and you can’t make Bucky move...” She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Plan a business trip recently?”

“What? No! I haven’t--” Tony caught her impassive stare, and relented. “JARVIS may be looking into a potential trip to Tokyo.”

“Remember when the Prime Minister goes back to her?”

“After she writes him that card.”

“So let me call it now. After your uh… _experimentation,_ you’re going to confirm that you do, in fact, like Barnes, and then you’ll try to run away, but eventually Bucky will make it clear to you that he does like you. I’m thinking he’ll do roses and fancy candlelit dinner on the balcony of Stark Tower. And then finally, _finally,_ you’ll have your happy ending.” Natasha leaned back in satisfaction.

As good as it might have sounded in Tony’s mind, there was one thing that Natasha was completely overlooking.

“Nat, you and I both know that happy endings don’t exist, especially for people like us.”

Natasha looked at him for a second before surveying the room in front of her. Sam and Thor were huddled under the same blanket, a box of tissues in between them because apparently even _Love Actually_ could bring those two to tears. Steve, Bucky and Clint were watching the screen with their identically furrowed eyebrows, the only clue of their intense concentration. Bruce was ensconced in the lone armchair, novel forgotten, eyes peering through his glasses at the movie in front of him.

It was like Bruce knew that Natasha was watching him, for he turned his gaze to give her a small reassuring smirk before returning his focus to the screen.

Tony did in fact notice the giddy, albeit small smile that rose on Natasha’s face.

“I don’t know,” Natasha finally said, “I kinda thought this was one.”

* * *

Tony had never had a great track record with relationships. There were only two people that he thought he could stay with for his entire life.

One died. The other left him for his driver. (Don’t get him wrong, he loved Pepper and Happy and wished them the best).

So, it wasn’t like Tony really had a model to follow in this situation. He was going in blind, and it made him all the more nervous.

There was no denying that Tony was sexually attracted to Bucky, but was that all? Did he just need just one wham-bam thank you ma’am, and that was it, that was all, everyone would return to normal, and then there would be no more of this feelings nonsense.

Or was it even deeper, like Natasha implied, and if it was, how would he even know? Love was fleeting, harder to pin down than an annoying fly that was buzzing around your head.  It took him forever to realize that he even liked Pepper, after bouts of jealousy and possessiveness that he couldn’t even explain.

No! His first assumption was right. It was just lust.

“ _You’re_ coming down to the training room?” Clint asked, running up to catch up with him, interrupting his swirling thoughts.

“Shut up. Or you won’t get the new toys.” Tony grumbled, pushing the cart into the training room.

“What’s wrong with you?” Clint asked, as he helped push the cart through the doors. “Something brewing in your mind?”

“What—no? I’m fine.”

“I know that’s a lie. But that’s ok, Laura’ll get it out of you.” He picked up a quiver from the cart and examined it.

“Say what? Laura’s coming?”

“Today, and so is Peter.” Clint whistled at the team to call their attention to the both of them.

“Ugh...”

“You really have something to hide, don’t you?” Clint quietly murmured.

“Not sure if it’s something, yet.” Tony pulled on a reflexive grin and spread his arms to present his gadgets to the team. “Greetings, fellow crime fighters.”

“What’s all this?” Steve asked. Bucky picked up a stun gun from the cart, while Sam cooed over the new wings that Tony had brought.

“Ehh, just some things that were lying around the workshop.”

“You know, we only get gadgets when something big is on your mind.” Bruce said, from the corner. The admiring looks towards the tech now shifted to Tony with question.

“Oh Lord, have I become predictable? Quick JARVIS, find the nearest supply of alcohol and the closet kindergarten. I have to sully my reputation once more.”

Bucky quickly dropped the gun, and stared at him with piercing eyes. Tony felt his stomach swirling with anxiety. “What’s on your mind?”

 _You,_ Tony venomously thought, but made no outward indication of his frustration. “I’m completely fine. Now, grab what you think looks like something you’d like, and practice. I have to go get the workshop ready for Pete.”

Tony spun away, trying to leave the room as quickly as he can without arousing suspicion. _It was just lust,_ he repeated to himself. _Just lust._

Why didn’t he feel any confidence in his words?

* * *

Tony was fiddling around in the kitchen, trying to find something appetizing to eat. He settled on day old Mexican food and pulled it out of the fridge.

“I sure as hell hope that you’re not going to put that in your mouth.” A stern voice said. Tony felt his lips widening at the sound.

“Laura! You know I was just taking out the trash to make space for your wonderful food.”

“Mm-hmm.” She peered at him affectionately, ignoring the fussy baby in her arms. “Clint told me that something was wrong with you. You wanna talk about it or should I leave it to Natasha’s expertise?”

“Is everyone around me a therapist now? When did I enter the asylum, let me know.” Laura huffed and unceremoniously dumped Nathaniel into Tony’s arms.

“Fine. Atleast hold Nate as I make dinner for everyone.”

“And Peter.” Tony absently added, as he sat on the kitchen stool and placed the unhappy infant on his lap, letting him hold on to his hands. Immediately, baby Nate quieted down a little, entranced by the blue light shining from his shirt. He shook his fingers free from Tony's grip to paw at the source.

“Hey, kid, that's not some fancy night light for you to play with.”

A high pitched shriek followed by a few unintelligible words emanated from little Nate.

“Yeah, yeah. When you have about 36 million dollars, give or take a couple, you can get your own.”

A sad garble, before a return to trying to grasp the light with his tiny hands.

“I see the brains come from Clint rather than you, Laura.” Tony commented lightly.

“Tony, he’s only eight months. What do you expect him to do?” Laura asked, expertly slicing an onion on a cutting board that Tony didn't even realize they owned.

“Well, when I was eight months old, I was already walking and reciting the alphabet.”

Laura looked at her son with a fond smile. “I am so glad that you are developmentally average.”

"And what is that supposed to mean?”

"Nothing, nothing at all. Do me a favor and chop the tomatoes."

Tony obediently placed Nate in the highchair that Pepper had bought and diligently began to do the task set before him.

Tony had always liked to cook, even though he really didn’t do it as much as before. There was something calming about the repetitive motions of slicing and dicing, and the eventual satisfaction of making something actually edible with your own hands.

“How’s Cooper and Lila?” Tony asked, and listened on to the steady voice of Laura explaining how the kids had crashed the tractor through the side of the barn. Despite her obvious annoyance, Tony would bet that she didn’t regret a minute of letting her kids play with the tractor.

Working together, the two managed to make enough food for the team in the tower. Just as the sauce was nearing completion and the pasta was cooking to perfection, did the first straggler come in.

“Wow, guys, it smells delicious,” Bucky said. He reached over to grab a slice of hot garlic bread, but Laura quickly rapped his knuckles with a wooden spoon.

“Not yet, soldier boy. First wash up, and then set the table.” At his mother’s rebuke, baby Nate let out a shriek of giggles from his high chair and clapped his hands together.

Bucky quickly spun around to Nate with betrayed eyes. “I can’t believe he just laughed. Guess who’s now setting the table with me?”

Bucky grabbed Nate with his human arm before grabbing a heavy stack of plates with the other. While spinning around the dining table so as to make Nate laugh, Bucky quickly set the table for the eventual slew of superheroes who would arrive with insatiable appetites.

Though Tony's main priority was to look after the sauce, his eyes eventually flickered to the almost dancing form of Barnes, holding Nate securely in his arms with a grand smile on his face.

The desire hit him quickly, almost painfully. He wanted that so badly. To be next to Bucky, maybe even have a child of his own…

Tony abruptly dropped the ladle into the pot causing sauce to splash everywhere. He hissed as the liquid spattered on his hand, starting to burn his skin.

Laura was upon him in an instant, Bucky following her closely behind.

“Tony,” she whispered, as she wiped his hand fervently with a washcloth and led him to the sink to run the burn under cold water.

“Laura, I’m fine. I’ve definitely had worse burns than this.”

“I know that,” she snapped back, but it didn’t stop her from ordering him to keep his hand under the water, while she went to hunt for bandages.

“Right here.” Bucky appeared in front of them holding a first aid kit that was open towards Laura.

Tony couldn’t look Bucky in the eye. “Guys, seriously, this is barely anything.”

Laura simply huffed, but did not stop until there was a Thor band-aid stuck to the back of his hand.

Tony glared at Laura. He should have known that it wouldn’t have affected that devil-woman.

“Look, it was either that or the Hello Kitty one. Now, go put the pot of sauce on the table.”

“You heartless woman. I was just injured in the line of duty.”

“It’s okay, I’ve got it.” Bucky said, easily lifting the pot off the stove and placing it where Laura pointed.

Laura raised a questioning eyebrow at Bucky’s eagerness before looking at Tony.

"Oh," she softly said, her eyes slightly widening. " _Oh_." she repeated with a triumphant grin.

"No. No 'oh’. Whatever you're thinking, get it out of your mind."

Laura just winked before walking over to help Bucky.

Tony wondered if JARVIS's protocols would allow him to fling himself off the side of the building.

 


	4. Observation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next two verses (the chorus actually) were kinda short so i sorta smushed them into this chapter...think it looks good but we'll see :) hope you enjoy!

_Ooh that man is like a flame_  
_And ooh that man plays me like a game_  
_My only sin is I can't win_ _  
_ Ooh I wanna love that man

So it turned out that two women knew his emotions before he did.

If that wasn’t a testament to how emotionally stunted he was, then Tony didn’t know what could be.

Well, there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. He would forever be doomed to play the role of the unrequited lover, like Castiel in _Supernatural._

(It couldn’t be all subtext. What kind of angel would do anything for Dean and still be ‘just friends’? And as being an angel, wouldn’t he think rationally instead of trying to save Dean’s life every fucking time? You know, since angels were supposed to emotionless and all).

Playing the role of the unrequited lover was the worst because what would Tony do to resolve the situation? Admit his actual feelings and then get cruelly rejected? No, thanks. He’d rather remain blissfully ignorant to Bucky’s thoughts.

Now, he was at the mercy of Bucky, unable to say no to anything that he wanted though he was pretty sure that the former assassin had not yet noticed.

For example, the other day:

“No, Barton. I refuse to buy the TV show.” Tony said, stomping away from the persistent archer.

“Why not? You’re rich as fuck!” Barton whined.

“Language,” Steve murmured under his breath, following behind Clint. A pleading look came onto his face when he turned towards Tony. “You sure that you can’t buy that show?” he asked, with a sort of melancholy glint in his eye.

Tony didn’t know what the hell that was about, but before he could even ask, the Captain sighed, dropping his head and walking away. Steve giving up already was a sure sign that something was incredibly off. Unless he was playing reverse psychology. Would Cap even know about reverse psychology?

“No! Cap! You can’t leave me.” Clint called after him. Shrugging his shoulders, Tony marched on.

“Tonyyyy, don’t tell me that you don’t want to see the second half of _Conviction_.”

“Do you even hear what you’re saying to me right now? You want me to _buy_ the rights to a show, so that you could finish watching it? There are people starving in the world.”

“Hayley Atwell. Kicking ass. On drugs. Why haven't you called ABC yet?”

“I’m not spending…”

“Conservatively speaking, 3.5 million dollars,” JARVIS interrupted.

“3.5 million dollars just so you watch a TV show.”

“You literally spent millions developing eight different colored lightsabers.” Tony threw him a cross glare.

“The next time you ask to play with them, I will slice your right hand off.”

Barton groaned, clearly fed up with the fact that this conversation was not going the way that he anticipated it to.

“Barnes, help me out here. Don’t you want to see the rest of the Conviction episodes that ABC is not airing?”

Tony turned around to see Thor and Bucky, probably emerging from the training room since there was a clear sheen of sweat on their skin. Dressed in ratty sweatpants and a faded Henley, Bucky still looked gorgeous, even with half of his hair pulled back in what could only be called a man-bun.

There was once a time that Tony could say that he hated man-buns more than any object that had the Hammer Industries logo on it. Those words could not be said anymore.

“Obviously, I want to see the rest of the Conviction episodes. It’s like you haven’t watched every episode with me in front of the TV.”

“I can attest to that,” Thor swore.

“Did you know that Tony could buy the rest of the episodes for about $3.5 million?”

“I refuse to shell out the money for this,” Tony got out, before Bucky could say anything with his perfect lips. He turned away from the conversation and since the elevator meant waiting in this awkward situation, he rushed up the stairs.

Of course, considering his luck, it was only right that Bucky would follow him up the stairs.

Tony spun around quickly, hastily pasting a glare on his face and making sure that there was enough space between them, so he couldn’t get lost in Bucky’s stupid eyes.

“Stop right there.” Bucky, who was in the midst jumping two stairs, struggled to find balance before putting his legs back on solid ground. “There is nothing you could say that could possibly make me change my mind, so don’t waste your breath.” Tony said firmly, finally feeling like he was in control.

(Which worked, considering that he was two stairs above him).

Without saying anything, Bucky took another step up, making Tony lose the one edge that he had. _Fucking hell._

“Aww, you look so cute when you're mad.” Bucky pointed his finger out, reaching closer to touch Tony’s nose.

“Don’t touch me.” Tony slapped his hand away and stomped up the stairs.

“Aghhh, why are you so fast for someone so short?”

Tony whirled back to find Bucky within mere inches of him. _Breathe,_ he told himself, and tried to take a step back, only to find the wall blocking his path. Well, there was no other way out of this. Tony fixed a mutinous glare upon Bucky. “I’m not short.”

Bucky’s brow furrowed, before his expression cleared.

“Ahh, yes. You're _fun_ size.”

“JARVIS, can you deploy Mark 51--”

“Whoa ok,” Bucky said, retreating far enough, so that Tony could regain his thought process. “Yes, never mentioning height again, it's just a number, right? I mean, what does a couple extra inches give you? Nothing, I say.”

“Are you done?”

Bucky rubbed the back of his head. “I guess.” He looked up with his bright brown eyes, looking slightly nervous. “Say… I know that 3.5 million dollars is a lot of money, and you don't really owe me anything. I mean, you already let me live here rent free, which is pretty sweet, but…”

Tony relaxed against the wall, heart slowly melting at the sight of Bucky doing Tony’s trademark thing: rambling.

“... and she’s just so badass, I think it reminds Steve of Peggy. Clint, for some reason, is _really_ into the drug aspect of it. It's concerning, to say the lea--”

“Fine.” Tony said, cutting across Bucky. “You’ll have the show in a week.”

“You-- what?”

“You’ll get it in one week, Barnes. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” Tony said, with a raised eyebrow.

Barnes, with a surprised look still pasted on his face, stepped back from Tony. His right hand flew up again to rub his neck, and a grin slowly formed on his face. “I guess I’ll see you around then.”

“See you.” Tony muttered, and ran up the stairs, skipping steps, and scrunching his eyes in mortal embarrassment.

It was just so hard to get a word out and not feel like an idiot in front of him. To suppress the urge to stand next to him, just to feel his presence behind him. To grasp his hand, just for some warmth and support.

To admit his feelings.

* * *

_Ooh that man is on my list_  
_And ooh that man I wanna kiss_  
_My only sin is I can't win_  
_Ooh I wanna love that man_

“Who’s on your list?” Tony asked Natasha. The both of them were wearing fleece pajama pants and were plopped in front of the sofa, a bucket of pretzels between them and a drink on either side. Half the team was lazing around the room with them, while the other half had gone out to SHIELD for a quick debrief.

“My list? How many can I have?”

“Ahh, let’s say three.”

“List?” Thor asked. Even Bucky had a look of surprise. Sam snickered beside him.

“Of course they wouldn’t know.”

“‘The List’ is the three people that, if you are in a position to have sex with them, you have a free pass from your partner to do so.” Natasha patiently explained.

“Mine would have…,” Sam paused as if this was such a difficult question, “Halle Berry, Scarlett Johansson and...Charlize Theron.”

“Good choices, good choices.” Natasha said. “I’d have Charlize Theron too on my list. Then Anthony Bourdain.”

“Anthony Bourdain, when there’s Bradley Cooper?” Tony asked incredulously.

“I’ll take Cooper the day he can cook like Anthony Bourdain. And to round it all out, Gordon Ramsay.”

“A little foul mouthed for my taste but I can see why,” Sam said, nodding in approval.

“Wait, so you’re bisexual?” Bucky asked Natasha, a weirdly serious look on his face.

“Is there anyone in this tower who’s actually straight?” Sam snorted.

A lone hand rose from behind a newspaper, belonging to one Bruce Banner.

“Ahh, the token straight white friend. I knew we had to have at least one. Who's on yours, Brucie?” Tony said.

Bruce folded his paper and fiddled with his glasses, all the while making a deep thinking noise. “Hmmm, I'd say Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Garner, and… Scarlett Johansson.”

“I'd have to say Elsa Pataky, Kate Winslet, and Jessica Chastain.” Thor said. “They are actresses of some of my favorite movies. Fast and the Furious, The Titanic, and The Martian.” Natasha nodded approvingly before nudging Tony with her foot.

“Who’s on your list?” The group looked expectantly at Tony.

“Gwyneth Paltrow… Rachel McAdams and... Sebastian Stan.” Tony decided.

“I've never heard of him before,” Sam said, pulling out his phone from his front pocket, with Thor and Bruce overlooking his shoulder. After a quick search, Sam jerked back and pulled the phone closer to his face to inspect it.

“Wow… wow! He’s really hot!” Sam said.

“I know,” Tony said, satisfyingly.

“He also looks incredibly like Bucky.” Thor pointed out.

“I k-- wait, say what now?” Tony said. Sam passed the phone to Natasha, while Bucky and Tony peered over her shoulders.

Immediately, Tony could see the resemblance. It was so obvious what with the gelled back chocolate brown hair, the obvious muscles that they both shared, the chiseled jawline. The only difference that Tony could notice was that Sebastian Stan had blue eyes, compared to Bucky’s warm and brown one’s.  

Bucky was transfixed at the screen and as his eyes roamed over the picture, his left hand would go to touch each feature, as if he was looking in a mirror. First, his hair, then his cheek, finally his jaw.

“I don’t see it,” Bucky finally declared.

Sam snatched his phone from Natasha’s hands, his thumb scrolling down the screen. “Are you blind? He looks exactly like you. Maybe he’s related to you. Your cousin’s great great grandson twice removed, or some shit.”  
“Man, that is one screwed up family. What would I even call him? Is he my great great nephew twice removed? That’s so long.”

“You don’t have to greet him like that. You can call him…” Sam’s eyebrows rose, as he read the screen, “Sexy Seabass, if you’d prefer.”

Bucky’s face froze. “Sexy Seabass?”

“Or Vanilla Ice.” Thor suggested. “But why would you name yourself after ice cream?”

“Where are these names even coming from?” He turned to Tony. “Was it you?”

“What?”

“You seem to be a connoisseur of nicknames and you want to have sex with him. Sexy seabass seems exactly like something you would say.”

Was it just Tony, or was Bucky’s voice becoming increasingly accusatory?

“God, it's not like I've ever met him before to even name him.”

Bucky snorted as he used a finger to scroll down the screen over Sam’s shoulder. “There's literally a dozen of pictures of both of you at some red carpet event.”

“Fine. Maybe I did meet him once. Do you really think I'd give a person I'd just met a nickname?”

“You literally named me Robocop the first day I walked in here.”

“It’s called an ice breaker, look it up!”

“I know what an ice-breaker is!” he snapped back.

“Ok relax dudes. _Entertainment Weekly_ clearly reports that one of his co-stars made these names for him. And might I say he is one fine looking dude.” Sam said.

Tony and Bucky shot each other one last glare, before leaning back into the couch.

Natasha nudged him with her shoulder. “What was that all about?” she asked, in a knowing tone, as if she already knew the answer and was waiting for Tony to put the pieces together.

“I don’t know.” Tony fiercely whispered back, before starting to talk in a loud voice again, just so Bucky can hear. “But, apparently, I’m not allowed to nickname people.”

Bucky snorted from the deep corner of the couch that he pushed himself in. Tony only rolled his eyes in response and proceeded to take sip out of his soda.

Sam looked between them with confusion. “Is this some kind of weird foreplay that I don’t understand?”

Tony choked on his drink while Bucky started to cough uncontrollably.

“Get out, all of you,” Tony said, as he regained his voice. “This was just supposed to be me and Natasha’s night, and y’all are coming in and ruining it with your accusations and complete misunderstandings of situations.”

Sam and Thor only grumbled about leaving before stealing a box of their popcorn. Tony swore under his breath that he was going to make Sam new wings that kept going around in loops. Bruce slowly rose from his corner of his room, but unexpectedly made his way over to Bucky. He leaned down, whispering something in Bucky’s ear before strolling out of the room. Bucky, with a weirdly thoughtful expression on his face, quickly ran out behind him

“What was all that about?” Tony asked Nat.

“What am I to you?”

“My best friend and shrink.”

“I think Bruce is trying to be that for someone else.”

“Great, a power couple of therapists is exactly what this Tower needs.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i legitimately have no clue how much tv shows cost so lets just go with that please??


	5. Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been a while, hasn't it?  
> hope you like the new update!

_Now it's like I'm on a mission_  
_Headed everywhere_  
_And if it takes a little long_  
_And it feels a little wrong who cares?_

Determined not to seek advice from Natasha and Laura, who would just gloat over how right they were, Tony decided to ask Rhodes for help on his current affections for Bucky Barnes. Only, his best friend was overseas on a ‘training exercise’. And the next two people on his list were currently on a vacation to celebrate their engagement. Bruce was off volunteering in a local hospital and telling Clint meant that he would inevitably deal with Laura again. Did Tony even have to explain why Thor and Steve were a bad idea?

With no other choice, Tony reluctantly turned to the last person in the entire world that he would go to for advice. He looked up to the person standing across from him.

“Say, Peter,” Tony began.

“Mhmm?” Peter absently asked.

“Umm, how’s it going with, uhh, Liz?” For the life of him, Tony could not remember the girl’s last name but it apparently did not seem to matter. Peter suddenly jerked back up from his super suit, a look of fear plastered on his face.

He had to abort. This was possibly the worst idea that he had ever had his entire life.

“Uhh, she was wearing a new shirt yesterday.”

Ah, what a coincidence. So was Bucky.

_Wait, what?_

“Oh, that's nice.”

“So, do I want to know why you asked about Liz?” Peter started a couple of minutes later.

“No particular reason.”

“It’s not because you have relationship problems, do you? Cuz I’m definitely not the person to ask about this. I mean, despite the fact that I’ve liked Liz for like years now, I still haven't been able to hold a five minute long conversation with her.”

“Yup, you’re definitely not the person,” Tony scoffed. At least Tony was able to hold longer conversation with Bucky, but they always ended up being about his arm, HYDRA, or some other disturbing topic.  

“So does that still mean you're having relationship problems?” Peter asked.

‘I… uh, well--” Tony was never so grateful for the Avengers alarm to blare across the lab, so that he could leave Peter and his interrogative questions behind.

“Sorry Pete, can’t talk, the alarm’s rung.”

“You know I’m an Avenger too, right?”

Tony turned back with a smirk. “Not on a school night!”

“Just wait till I turn 18!” he heard Peter shout, before the elevator doors closed and carried him to the main floor.

Tony strode to the Avengers briefing room and could immediately sense the tense atmosphere.

“What’s the problem?” he quietly asked, nodding his head in the general direction of Steve and Bucky, who were intently staring at a video, faces in similar states of frustration.

Natasha leaned toward him and whispered two words that struck fear along his spine. “Red Skull.”

“What?” he asked, full of surprise.

“Well, it’s not actually the Red Skull. It’s his daughter, Sin.” Bruce added.

“Damn. This is bad.”

“Yes, well considering both Steve and Bucky lost seventy years of their life because of Red Skull, this is _definitely_ bad.” Clint whispered.

“So we got, not only one, but two angry super-soldiers on our hands.”  Tony finished.

“Which is a bigger problem than Sin herself.” Thor gestured. Tony agreed. Bucky and Steve were always able pull each other back whenever the other became too emotional or too reckless during bigger. But something involving the Red Skull was bound to make the both of them compromised.

It seemed like Sin was in downtown New York, waiting for Captain America and the Winter Soldier to make a special appearance for her or she’d release her ‘Sisters of Sin’ on civilians.

In a scarily soft voice, Steve told the team to board the Quinjet. The team complied with a fair amount of apprehension. They sat in the back of the jet while the two super soldiers stuck to the front to pilot.

“What are we going to do? He hasn’t even set up a plan, he loves plans!” Clint whispered.

“You haven’t worked with the same Steve Rogers as me. He once launched his motorcycle into a tank for no reason,” Thor said.

“He’s right. That man is more reckless than a gambler on a winning streak.” Natasha murmured. “He once jumped off a helicopter without a parachute just to escape my attempts at matchmaking for him.”

“That’s actually relatable,” Tony muttered. Natasha slapped his shoulder, leaving him wincing.

“Instead of commenting on that, why don’t you suggest something we could do to stop them from running head on into this situation?”

“You’re honestly asking the guy who gave his home address to a villain, after said villain hurt his bodyguard and put him in a coma?” Clint asked.

“Don’t remind me. I’m still salty about that.” Bruce muttered.

“I swear to god Brucie, if you ever use teen slang again--”

“You just said ‘relatable’ like three seconds ago--”

“Children,” Thor said, “please tone down the bickering and start thinking of solutions.”

“Maybe, just let them run with it.” Tony said.

“What? That’s the stupidest idea ever.” Clint said.

“Well, I didn’t realize I needed help until I was stuck in middle-of-nowhere, Tennessee.”

“Rose Hill,” Bruce gravely proclaimed, “It was Rose Hill.” Tony slapped him across the shoulder.

“Now is not the time to turn into a lump of emotion, Dr. Banner. Now back to the topic at hand--”

Natasha motioned for them to all come closer, and so they leaned in. “What if we…"

* * *

 They knew that Steve and Bucky were not going to like this plan, but this was the only way that they could guarantee the entire team’s safety.

Tony made sure to put his suit on, while Clint filled his quiver and Natasha grabbed as many Widow’s Bites as she could. Thor summoned Mjolnir and fastened his armor, and Bruce double checked intel against schematics.

Before Bucky could even land the plane right, Tony had JARVIS open the doors, and the team scrambled off. The last thing they all saw was the Steve Rogers’ half surprised, half furious face, before the Quinjet flew back into the sky, being remotely maneuvered by JARVIS.

“So if we don’t all die during battle, we’re probably gonna die when we get back to the Tower, right?” Clint asked.

“Fortunately, I'm a demigod,” Thor grinned. Tony’s faceplate slid up.

“Don't get too cocky, Point Break. After I die, I'll charge out of Hel to smite your ass,” Tony snarled back, “And I bet your brother would be willing to help me.”

“What on God’s green Earth are you guys doing?” Steve growled over the comms.

“Oh hey, Cap. How are you doing this fine evening?” Tony asked.

“Was this your stupid idea, Stark?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bruce asked, a slight edge to his tone.

Tony felt a bitter taste rise to his mouth. “I thought we had gotten past this, Rogers.”

“God, a return to Civil War times would be worse than death.” Clint muttered.

“Look, the idea was mine and I think it's fairly obvious as to why we need it,” Natasha said, “You and Bucky are compromised and that could put the entire team in danger.”

“Yeah, so just sit your ass tight and let us know if we’re screwing up,” Tony said, still smarting from Roger’s implication. He looked over the scene, JARVIS pointing out key points on his HUD.

Steve took a breath deep enough that it could be heard over the comms, and Tony thought that the Captain was finally relenting, but of course what Tony wanted to happen in the world never really happened, did it?

“Get us down now, Stark.” _Agh, of course._

Tony let out a long drawn sigh. “I thought you’d changed, Cap. I guess I was wrong.” Tony looked across the field to see Natasha and Clint glaring at the Quinjet in the sky with a brutal intensity, while Bruce’s skin tone started to take on a slight green tinge. The sudden presence of storm clouds also signified Thor’s feelings about the matter.

Nat tapped her watch. “JARVIS, you there?”

“Always, Miss Romanoff.”

“Turn Steve’s comm off.”

The last thing they heard was Steve’s squawk of surprise before before his voice disappeared.

Natasha looked to him with concerned eyes. “You know he didn’t mean any of the that, right?”

Tony shook his head. “He could’ve given us strategic help.”

“That doesn’t mean he can shit on you like that.” Clint muttered, as he nocked an arrow. “As much as I’d like to shoot Steve, we’ve got the Sisters of Sin incoming.”

Everyone looked to Natasha. Natasha promptly looked to Tony.

“What? You want _me_ to give orders?” Tony asked, pointing to himself with a red and gold finger.

A gruff voice that Tony didn’t expect carried over the comms. “You have a team of crazy lady assassins on your ten o’clock. Make a decision, _now.”_ Bucky said.

Tony looked at his expectant teammates and nodded. “Ok, where’s Sin?”

“I think she’s the one leading the pack of crazy ladies.”

“Barton, you know the drill, rooftop duty. Thor can take you up there. Blast them away. Nat, you go for civilians, and I’ll back you up. And Bruce,” Tony swiveled to him, and hesitated before saying what was on his mind, “I need you to stay out of this one.”

He inwardly cringed, preparing for a barrage of criticism to rush through from Bucky’s comm, but nothing happened.

“So what do you want me to do?”

“There’s a SHIELD report on her. Someone theorized that her supposed ‘Sisters of Sin’ are actually young girls put through the same machine that sped up her growth and gave her superhuman powers.”

“You want me to find out if it’s actually true and if it is, try to set up somewhere we can keep them so that maybe we could reverse engineer the process.”

“You took the words out of my mouth, sweetheart. So that means capture, don't kill.” Tony took on a breath to calm his jitters. “I’ve always wanted to say this,” Tony said, as his faceplate slid down, “Avengers Assemble!”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Clint muttered, as Thor grabbed him by the bicep and shot up into the sky.

“Shut up and let him have his fun.” Nat said.

It had only been several minutes into the battle but Tony felt like his plan was working more efficiently than it should have. He could see Natasha’s bright red hair pop up in the middle of the road, so it seemed that she was ok. The crazy assassin ladies would suddenly drop to the ground so that meant Hawkeye was doing fine. The lightning was also reassuring.

“Nat, are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“I think everyone’s thinking what you're thinking.”

“We all realize that it's too easy, you fool. Where’s the motherfucking plot twist?” Clint said.

“Don't call out for it.” Thor complained.

And that's when Tony found the motherfucking plot twist.

In the corner of the battle, there was a red glow that emanated from a machine that looked like an elevator, and even though Tony couldn't see through it, he could definitely deduce its purpose.

“Uh, Brucie?”

“Oh, Jesus.”

“I think I found the machine that does the puberty skipping thing.”

“Aren't you a scientist? Why must you phrase it that way?”

“Bucky?” Tony called.

“Yes, sir?”

“Bring the Quinjet around so we can get the machine on it. JARVIS has released the controls by now.”

Tony blasted through the Evil Sisters, making sure that he wasn't hurting any innocent young girls that were about to be forced into the machine. With perfect timing, the Quinjet landed in front of them.

“Tony Stark!” A female voice bellowed. Tony turned to oppose Sin in all her face burned glory. “You have made a grave mistake.”

“Sorry for not calling you back, doll. I just wasn't into the Nazi fetish.”

“Where is your beloved Captain and his sidekick?”

“She did not just call me Steve’s sidekick.” Bucky growled into the comms. Tony rolled his eyes.

“They didn't think that you were important enough to come for. I mean, a super powered villain with a love for fascism? So 1940’s.”

Sin’s eyes darkened proving that Tony's words were getting to her.

“So that means that there's no one to save you now.” A hammer appeared in her hand and with a snarl, she came charging. Tony shot up into the sky, only to find Sin up in the air as well, a villainous smile plastered onto her face.

“Uh, Thor?” Tony said, as he swerved a bolt of lightning that had come dangerously close, “This chick got a hammer like you. And she’s fucking flying.”

“Not another word. I'll be there shortly.”

Until Thor got there, Tony had to stop Sin from harming any civilians and save the girls that had been captured by Sin. It was time for Tony to go on the offense. He paused mid air, quickly turning around to shoot a repulsor beam at Sin. Sin quickly blocked it and launched an attack of her own. He ended up being too slow; the end of the bolt caught his right forearm and Tony could feel his skin burning in agony but pushed through until Thor took over. He landed disgracefully on the grass, ruining the fine landscaping ability of the city.

Clint came jogging up to him, eyes never leaving Tony’s face as he shot a Sister out of the corner of his eye.

Tony would never admit how badass that looked. Ever. It would be kept hidden in the depths of his heart forever.

“Stand down,” Clint said. “You’re hurt.”

“Tony’s hurt?” Bucky asked over the comms.

“It’s nothing,” Tony reassured them two. “I can still fly and I can still fight.”

“I’m getting out of the Quinjet.”

“Don’t do that. Sin is literally looking for you. Stay in the jet. We still have to find a place to take the girls.”

“Natasha already called SHIELD. They’ll take in the girls that are ok while we’ll take in the ones that we have to help. Two jets will be here any minute.”

“Good,” Tony praised, “we have to get them out of here.”

“Stand down, Stark, we’ll take it from here.” Fury growled. “Get yourself a bed in the medbay at the Tower.”

“It’s only just a scrape on the forearm, I’ll be fine.” Tony replied as he rose from the grass to round up the last of the evil Sisters.

* * *

 “A scrape on the forearm, he said. It’ll be fine, he said.” Clint muttered, as he twirled a scalpel in his hand. Tony eyed him warily as he talked to Bruce.

“Do they all have to be here? I mean, it’s just a gash--”

“Your nerves were cut. We had to use the Cradle.” Bruce grumbled.

“See, nerves were cut which means that I didn’t feel any pain, and therefore this love-in is not necessary.”

A love-in was definitely not the name for it, considering the glares that he was getting all around. Steve and Bucky were on the left of his hospital bed, both with their arms folded and faces surly. Thor was flipping through his medical chart and kept asking Natasha questions, glancing upwards whenever he heard something disturbing. Bruce was gingerly wrapping gauze around his injury while Clint was digging into Jell-O.

“Is he all set?” Steve asked, as Bruce lifted his hands from his Tony’s wound.

“Should be, if he stays the night here and doesn’t tinker.”

“Ok then, everybody out.”

The room stilled; even Clint’s scraping of the plastic Jell-O container had ceased. Tony watched with amusement as his team traded looks as if Steve and him didn’t notice at all.

“Relax, he’s not going to eat me up.” Tony said with a smile.

Even with his reassurance, the team slowly wandered out of the room, casting hesitant looks behind him.

As soon as the door closed, Steve sighed and put his hands in his head, as he sat on the edge of the corner of Tony’s bed.

“I am an idiot.” he announced. Tony chuckled.

“Can’t argue with that.  But you’re a lovable idiot, what with the pale blue eyes and the corn silk hair.”

“Corn silk? Wait, that's not the point.” Steve shook his head, before taking a deep breath. “I… uh, I made a mistake. I let my emotions guide my actions. I heard the word Red Skull and it was like I couldn’t breathe--” Tony didn’t say a word as Steve broke off, his head drooping. “This isn’t--I’m not trying to make an excuse, okay?” Steve said finally looking Tony in the eyes. “I know it took a long time for us to understand each other, why we work the way we work, why we think the way we think. And I just threw it all away today because of the anger that ran in my veins. Anger that just seemed impossible to control. And so, I’m sorry, I’m so, _so_ sorry for throwing everything away for no reason at all.”

Steve, who seemed empty of words at this point, shrunk smaller than Tony thought physically possible and waited.

“Wow, umm, that was quite something,” Tony said, inwardly cursing the fact that his voice sounded so hoarse. He hoped to god that he wouldn’t start crying next.

“Figured I had to apologize since I was completely in the wrong. I turned back into the person I used to be.”

“Should we kiss now, or what?”

Steve snorted. “I’ll settle for a hug.”

“Ok, bring it in, big guy.” Tony outstretched his hands and Steve, with a small disbelieving nod, did indeed oblige Tony’s words and gave him a hug. He retreated with a disgusted expression on his face.

“You smell gross, Tony.”

Tony sniffed around himself, then looked up at Steve with a leering look. “I guess I do. You wanna give me a sponge bath?” he offered, with a wink.

“I’ll take a hard pass on that one and let you get some rest with Bucky, your babysitter.” With that, Steve rose from the bed and made his way to the door.

“Steve?”

“Hmm?”

“You know you’re not the person you were before right?” Steve cocked his head, prompting Tony to continue. “The person you were before would have never acknowledged his mistakes, and... would have never given me a hug.”

“Thanks, Tony.” The door shut and Steve was gone, and almost instantaneously Bucky walked in, eyes crucially examining every part of him.

“What, you guys were all outside eavesdropping in our conversation?”

“Maybe…” Bucky said, as he settled into the armchair closest to Tony’s bed. He swung his feet up on the mattress, pushing against Tony’s own thighs. “That was a good thing you told him at the end there.”

“I only call it like I see it.”

“I’m sorry too, you know.’

“Sorry Barnes, I’m at my emotional quota for the year, so save that that for another four months.”

“You offer to kiss Steve as conflict resolution but you won’t even accept my apology? Rude.”

“Fine. You committed a great sin and now I release you.”

“You also asked Steve for a sponge bath.”

“Fine. Bucky, sweet song of my soul, would you please give me a sponge bath?” Bucky pursed his lips.

“Nope, I had to ask you for it. It doesn’t count.” Bucky plucked a bag of candy of Tony’s and started to chew thoughtfully. “By the way...do you um, have a crush on Steve?”

“What are we, in third grade?”

“Fine… uh, do you like Steve, romantically?”

_Things would be so much easier if I liked Steve,_ Tony thought, as he gave Bucky a distasteful look.

“Maybe we should have you hospitalized instead.”

“What?”

“A concussion is honestly the only thing that could possibly make you think I like Steve. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Just shut up and watch the TV.” Bucky grumbled, the tips of his ears turning bright red. Tony’s eyes flickered to the screen, which was a playing a rerun of Friends, before returning his gaze to Bucky.

To be completely honest, Tony’s mind was right, as it was about most things. Things would be so much easier if he had had a crush on anyone else except Bucky, because liking him possibly meant ruining the whole team. Imagine how much Steve would flip when he found out that Tony had feelings for his best friend, or even worse, was dating him?

Tony’s friendship with Steve was something he was never willing to compromise on. Them putting aside their differences was the only way that the team was able to work together like a well oiled machine. And if the fact that Tony liked Bucky were to cause a rift between Steve and him, then this was wrong, having feelings for Bucky was wrong, and he should stop now. Look at how close they came to throwing blows today!

A snore shook Tony out of his thoughts attracting his attention to a dozing Barnes, his lines of tension now gone because of sleep’s slack form.

Tony’s eyes traced the features of Bucky’s face, taking in small details that he had never had a chance to notice before. The unshaven stubble, the bridge of his nose, the one healing scar on his left cheek from a fight that happened several days ago.

He was in so much trouble.


	6. Partner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drops this chapter and runs*

_ My baby fits the description _

_ And does it easily _

_ A little Gable, some Astaire _

_ When he dances I can hardly breathe _

 

The most terrifying person that Tony had ever met, excluding Natasha and Pepper of course, was Kala. Standing proud at five feet and two inches tall (her heels giving her another three inches) and jam-packed with sass and stubbornness, Tony could see her as the kinda gal he would have loved to marry, except Kala was devoted to her man, and didn’t have any time for no “white fuckbois”. (He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but he knew that it wasn’t a compliment).

She was in charge of all the Avengers PR and arranged all their press conferences, briefings, galas, etc. She was also the one in charge of chewing Tony out anytime he went off script and became passionate in his defense of the team and their actions because Tony tended to be the spokesperson for all of them. 

Thankfully, it was not him who was on the receiving end of this particular showdown; rather, it was a certain formerly indoctrinated soldier.

“What in the freaking hell were you thinking? Did they still not fish out the HYDRA programming in you?” Kala screamed as she stalked into the room, eyes narrowed, looking at Bucky. The slight British accent that had broken through was a serious mark of how upset she was. 

Bucky and the rest of the team looked terrified (probably because they had never seen her angry) so Tony rose from his seat to defend them. 

Kala slammed the files she had onto the table. “You better sit your behind down Anthony Edward Stark. Don’t think I’m not coming for you next.”

Tony bowed his head gracefully and sat back down. Clint stared at him open-mouthed. 

“Why in the name of Leonardo Dicaprio’s clear blue eyes are you all endeavoring to make my life harder? You think cleaning up after you is the only job that I’ve got? I’ve got to plan a wedding for myself and a baby shower for my sister-in-law!” 

Tony’s eyebrows shot up. “Marco finally proposed?” 

Kala snickered. “Darling, he was struggling to get the words out. I took pity and asked him. He said yes.” 

“I knew he could do it.”

“Were the Iron Man themed fireworks your idea?” 

“Definitely all Marco’s.”

Kala looked like she was about to respond but suddenly her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Are you trying to stall my screaming monologue?” 

Tony kept his face as blank as he could. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

She let out a delicate snort and returned her piercing gaze on her victim, before letting out a deep sigh at his hanging head. “Look, I get that you were mad. If it were me, I would have kicked him where the sun don’t shine. Multiple times. That boy would have lost his chance at having a family and that’s a good thing, cos we really don’t need his genes in the gene pool. But did you really have to do it right in front of the CNN camera? Ugh, it’s going to be breaking news for _weeks_.”

“You gotta admit it was a pretty good punch though,” Tony said. 

“Of course, it was a great hit.” Kala retorted. “But the point is that no matter what shit someone is spouting about Tony or any of the other Avengers, it really does not give you the right to sock him in the face.”

Clint grimaced. “So, you’re telling me if someone calls Natasha “a communist cock-sucker” and Tony “a murdering, capitalistic warmonger who kills for pleasure” we keep quiet and pretend nothing happened?” 

“At that point in time. Then you come home, send JARVIS a picture of the idiot who dared to say those words and he can ruin their lives with no mercy.” Kala said. She raised an eyebrow at Clint’s surprised face. “What? I didn’t say I wasn’t a fan of revenge, I just think that it should be done at the right place and at the right time.” 

“So what can we do to clear this up?” Steve asked.

“Nothing. Go about your lives, tweet shit, make paper snowflakes, I don’t care. Just appear at New York City Police Department Gala this Friday all dolled up.” Kala said, collecting her folders haphazardly. 

“A gala?” Sam groaned. 

“We were scheduled to go anyway,” Bruce said. “Now, we just gotta be more happier than usual.”

Kala pointed to Thor’s grinning face. “Just like that. More smiling, less grimacing. And you,” she said, swiveling to Bucky, who looked up quickly, “you better be the star at this event. I don’t wanna see Tony being your knight in shining in armor in front of the cameras. Every picture that I see from that gala better have your pearly whites in it.” 

“Yes, ma’am.” He nodded seriously.

Kala smirked and Tony got up to escort her out of the room, but she stopped him at the door. 

“You better let them take care of this by themselves. They have to learn that the whole world is watching every move they make.” she said softly. 

“Kala…” he sighed. “This has never never been their life--”

“Which is exactly why they should learn how rough it is. I know they’re your friends Tony, but you can’t keep cleaning up after them without them knowing what problems that they’re causing.”

“They don’t have to know. Because we take care of it.”

“Tony,” she sighed, “They’re strong enough to take on aliens from the depths of the universe; they’ll be okay against a couple of sharp witted reporters.”

Tony still worriedly looked over his shoulder at his team, who were all watching Bucky’s excellent right hook replaying on the TV screen. A chorus of “ohs” followed as soon as Bucky’s punch landed and everyone cheered, as a small smile finally rose on a Bucky’s face. Kala followed his gaze and only grinned at his concern. She kissed him on the cheek as a goodbye and walked out of the room. 

“Come on guys, let’s go up,” Tony said, and the team rose from their seat, all still laughing at the bloody nose of that reporter. 

Bucky dawdled at the end of the group, hanging his head, eyes trained at his feet. Tony’s heart warmed at the sight.

“You’re not at the principal's office, you know that right?” 

Bucky looked up through his hair. “You haven’t said anything.”

“I’ll admit that the timing was way off, but if it were possible, there would be a repulsor created hole in his face rather than just a bloody nose.”

“So you’re okay with me punching him?” he asked hopefully. 

“Exceptionally okay. Just make sure you’re ready to deal with the consequences at the gala. Your face is gonna hurt so much from smiling, I can’t wait.”

“You’re heartless.”

“You’ll survive.” Tony said, clapping him on his back.

Tony  _ really _ hoped that he would survive.

* * *

Not surprisingly, Tony was the first one to be ready and waiting for the rest of the team in the common room, all dressed up in a classic tux that was complete with the addition of his favorite sunglasses. He knew that the rest of the team would take a longer, just because of the fact that they weren't used to dressing up. (Except Clint and Natasha of course, because some missions required formal clothing).

Just as the thought popped into his head, Clint came thundering down the stairs, followed by Natasha who was arm in arm with Bruce. Tony was slackjawed. He pushed Natasha aside and grabbed Bruce by his biceps. 

“Wow, Brucie. You look so hot! If I’d known what you were hiding underneath that lab coat…”

Bruce scrunched his nose. “That's gross. You’re gross.” 

“You still love me. What’s taking the super-soldiers so long?” Tony asked, as even and Thor and Sam bounded down the stairs, looking very dapper themselves. 

“We’re right here.” Steve said, and behind him was…

Wow.

_ Nope, no. No fucking man had the right to look so good in a navy blue tux, just no. _

“Wow, Bucky, I see you,” Sam called with a grin. 

“What about me?” Steve asked, giving them a twirl. 

“You’re alright, buddy.” Clint said, thumping him in the shoulder. Steve pouted. 

In the midst of all of this, Natasha had slid up next to Tony, a mischievous smile on her face. “Want me to ask JARVIS to take pictures?” 

“Will you please sto--oh who the hell am I kidding?” Tony muttered. “Yes, I want to push him against a wall right now and have my way with him, you happy?”

“Oh  _ so _ happy,” Natasha said, grinning.

“I’m not so happy that I had to hear that,” a voice said. Tony whipped around only to find Bruce beside them, and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Jesus, I thought you were Steve, or worse, Bucky.” 

“I wish I  _ was  _ Bucky, Then this mutual pining could finally stop.”

“Oh, what do you know?” Tony snapped back at him. 

“Do you really wanna go Stark?” 

Tony only sneered at him before flipping over his wrist to check the time. “Ok, guys, we better get down to the garage. Happy’s waiting for us.” He made very carefully sure that that he was ahead the pack so that Bucky and his stupid perfection would be nowhere near him. 

Though Tony had long since accepted his, um, affections for one Bucky Barnes, that didn’t mean he was actually going to do anything about it. So, it was best if Tony just kept away, let the crush run its course, and just settle in for the long grueling battle. Natasha didn’t seem to agree with his idea; in fact, she had vehemently protested against it before realizing that Tony was as stubborn as her when she made a decision, and just stopped bothering. 

(Tony was a little suspicious about that, but he let it go. Letting it go was currently the motto of his life right now). 

They all reached the garage, where a beautiful ink black limo was waiting for them, Happy opening the backdoor with a smile. 

“Happy, how was the vacation?” Tony asked, clapping him on the back.

“Amazing. Though as we passed over Venice, Pepper told me that you could make excellent omelets.” 

“That’s very true,” Natasha verified as she climbed into the limo. 

“Guess who’s making us breakfast tomorrow.” Thor said. 

“Look what you’ve done to me,” Tony complained to Happy, “You’ve essentially made me their housekeeper.”

“I think you’re more of a nanny, Stark.” Sam said.

“More like manny,” Bruce snorted. Tony threw him a deeply betrayed glare. 

The rest of the ride went very smoothly, everyone happily chatting about their plans for the party, and apparently no one realized Bucky’s complete lack of interaction.

(Of course Tony would notice. When you liked someone, you were suddenly hyper aware about every move that they made).

Tony bumped shoulders with him with a grin on his face. “You worried?”

“Not about the reporters.”

“Than about what?”

“You.”

Tony shrunk back. “Me?”

“I mean, well not just you, the team too, of course. It’s just that I heard that your stock prices took a hit.”

Tony waved a hand in midair. “They always take a hit. You’d think that announcing that I was a superhero would help, but that didn’t either. This is nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

“I told you, I’m not worried about this.” Bucky said, but Tony didn’t have a chance to hear at all, as they had finally arrived to the venue. 

“Alright,” Tony said, rubbing his hands. "It’s showtime, guys.”

The doors of the limo opened and Tony was almost blinded by the sheer amount of camera flashes that had started to go off because the Avengers were on the carpet. Reporters quickly surrounded him like flies attracted to sweet honey. 

“Mr. Stark, can you comment on the Winter Soldier’s actions several days ago?”

“Tony, how do you plan to combat the stock price decrease of SI?”

“Are you going to take responsibility for the vigilantes that have popped up around the country given your public support for Spiderman?”

Tony took a deep breath, gearing himself up to answer, when he suddenly felt a hand on his lower back. He looked up to find Bucky standing so close to him that he could almost count the streaks of green in his eyes. 

“Hey, why do you always ask him the good questions?” Bucky asked, as he slung his arm around Tony’s shoulder, an easy grin firmly in place. His eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth at the confusion that he was causing, especially to Tony, who had never seen Bucky looking so...confident and commanding in front of the people he hated the most: reporters. 

A familiar blonde pushed her way to the front, coming so close that Tony felt like he had to take a step back, just so he could breathe.

“Christine Everheart, Vanity Fair. Do you realize that your actions last week are being interpreted by many media outlets as a threat to the free press?”

Bucky hung his head, took a deep sigh, and managed to look  _ regretful _ . Where the fuck was the man that skewered anyone with a glare when they came within three feet of his personal bubble?  

“Miss Everheart, while I do realize that I could have solved the matter in a more diplomatic way, I merely became overwhelmed with anger that he could talk that way about my family in front of them.” 

“Your family?” she echoed confusedly.

“Well, of course. I consider the Avengers to be my family, don't you, Tony?” 

Tony, who was still in shock about the charm that seemed to be oozing out from every inch of Bucky’s body, scrambled to answer. 

“Yes, of course, a family.” 

“Though sometimes it can be a frat house,” Bucky laughed. Tony saw quick smiles in the crowd, and realized that Bucky had the press, hook, line and sinker. As soon as the last snicker had subsided, Bucky quickly returned his gaze to Everheart to finish answering. “The point is, when people talk about my family that way, I get mad. Wouldn't you?

And to answer the question about SI’s stock prices. Though I don't know much about business, I know that SI has taken much worse, so quite frankly I wouldn't be worried. 

And finally, the Avengers,  _ as a whole,  _ endorse the activities of Spiderman, but that doesn't mean we take responsibility for all superhumans. If they would like to do good, then they know where to find us. There’s always someone at Avengers Tower. Now if you'll excuse me, we have some policemen to support,” Bucky finished, and quickly maneuvered Tony away from the cameras and into the ballroom.

They made their way to a small table that was tucked away from the dance floor. Immediately Bucky grabbed a champagne glass from the closest server and chugged it all in one go, before wincing in dissatisfaction. 

“That wasn't nearly strong enough,” he said, plunking the glass down.

Tony had now regained enough sense to look Bucky straight in the eye. 

“Who the  _ fuck _ are you?” Tony growled, shoving Bucky backwards. “The Bucky that I know does not have a smile that big except for ice cream, hates questions, literally curses every three words--"

“Tony--" 

“does not know how to apologize in general--"

“Shut up, dumbass!” 

“Maybe I'm on drugs. Did you slip me something? Did we walk into an opening to another Earth and not realize it?” Tony asked, arms flailing in the air.

“You and I both know that if we were on a different Earth, you'd be a woman. Remember what Strange said?” 

“Well, he also said there are multiple Earths and he only went there by a total fluke.” 

“I still can't believe you and Steve were getting married.” Bucky said, sounding... annoyed?

“First off, what, I can’t have Steve? Am I not good enough for him?” Tony asked, jabbing his right finger into Bucky’s suit. 

“That’s not what I meant,” Bucky argued, forcefully grabbing his arm, but he slowly lowered it as a group of socialites walked by. He gave them his most charming smile and even a roguish wink, before turning back to Tony. Tony’s anger only grew.

“See, that, that,” Tony hissed. “Smiling at a random group of people you don't know? I didn't think it was physically possible.”

“What, you didn't think I could be charming?”

“I’m  _ well  _ aware of the charm,” Tony irritably answered.  _ I just didn't think it could be this freaking potent. _

_ “ _ So why’re you being weird about it?”

Tony scoffed, taking a step forward. “The real weirdo is you. Why do you have such a problem that female me married Steve? Huh?”

“Well, why are you upset that I'm smiling at people? What's it to you?”

“Because your smiles aren't just meant for anyone!”

“They aren’t meant for anyone but you!” Bucky exploded. 

Tony froze. “What--, what did you just say?”

Bucky’s right hand came up to scratch the back of his head. “I meant-- well, I didn’t mean--”

“And just what do you think you two are doing?” Kala furiously whispered, as she locked arms with the both of them. To anyone else, it might just look they were all friends having a happy conversation. However, if they looked closer they could probably see the strain in Bucky’s smile and the fact that Tony was about to go on his knees because of how tightly Kala was gripping on his arm. 

“Let go, devil woman.” Tony hoarsely whispered. 

“I ask you two to do one thing. Just one. And the both of you are over here arguing like little kids, to the point that the Police Commissioner calls me over to ask if you’re having a lover's quarrel’. So guess what,” Kala asked, as she spun them in front of her, pinning them with her eyes. “You two get to stick together for the rest of the evening, and if your smiles falter even once, well,” her gaze traveled a little below, and she mimed a cutting motion against her throat. 

The threat was clear enough to have both Tony and Bucky take a step back from Kala, but she only smiled in satisfaction. 

“Now, what is the last thing that an actual quarreling couple would do?” Kala asked slowly. 

Bucky and Tony exchanged glances before Bucky slowly raised his hand. 

“Yes, Mr. Barnes?”

“Um… dance?”

“Correct! I’ll cut thirty minutes off the time you to have to spend together for the right answer. Now, do you need me to lead you to the dance floor, or?”

“No, we’re very capable of getting there ourselves. Love you, Kala!” Tony said, before dragging Bucky away from Kala and onto the floor. 

“Jesus, that woman scares me.” Bucky breathed out. 

“Good, that’s what I hired her to do.”

“What?”

Tony turned to look at him. “You know how much the original Avengers hated PR but still wanted to do whatever the fuck they wanted? Who else was going to threaten the press to not publish stories that could damage our reputation?”

“Oh…” Bucky said, and then the conversation stuttered to a halt as they both remembered what they should be doing right now.

“So, are we really--”

“Well, yeah I guess.”

“Do you wanna lead?”

“Nah, it’s better if the taller person does it and you’re obviously way taller--”

“Um yeah. Do I just--” Bucky’s hand hovered in midair over where they were supposed to go and Tony looked up, lightly smirking.

“You know how to dance right?” Bucky looked affronted. 

“Of course I do.”

“Then prove it.” Bucky rolled his eyes, and Tony was almost sure that he was bluffing, but suddenly Bucky grabbed his waist, pulling him closer and set off, Tony trying frantically to keep up.

“Where- where did you learn to dance like this?” Tony asked. 

“Unlike Steve, I was able to pick up the dancing lessons that his mother gave us.”

“Ahhh. So that bullshit that he spouts about finding the right partner?”

“Even if he was dancing with a dance pro, he would probably still step on everyone’s feet. I think he means the partner thing in a ‘finding someone that he wants to spend the rest of his life with’ kinda way.”

“Ahh, that’s nice isn’t it?”

Bucky looks down at him, eyes questioning. “Why do you sound like that?”

“Like what?”

“Like you can’t have your own partner?”

_ Because I’m not even sure if he’s actually into men, and just why, why is this happening on a dance floor? _

“I don’t-- there isn’t, I just can’t.” Tony manages to actually say. Bucky narrows his eyes, opens his mouth to say something that’s probably stupidly encouraging and optimistic, when--

“Can I cut in?” Tony flips his head to see Natasha, pointedly looking at Bucky. 

“Uh, yeah sure…” Bucky releases him and walks off the dance floor, but not before giving him a puzzled look.

“You looked like a kid who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I figured that was my cue to step in,” Natasha explained. 

“I think I don’t say this enough, but I love you.’

“If you really love me, do me a favor and stop this.”

“Stop what?”

“Tell Bucky how you really feel.”

Tony scoffed, leaning his head back. “Nat, there’s about a multitude of things that could go wrong there.”

“And I’ll bet you that everything you’ve thought of isn’t going to happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello after quite some time
> 
> i finally got over some writers block and churned this out...let me know if you like it!

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!  
> kudos and comments appreciated!


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